A Snapshot seminar hosted by the School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience

Clémence Bernard

Abstract: Neurons use local protein synthesis to support their morphological complexity, which requires independent control across multiple subcellular compartments up to the level of individual synapses. However, to what extent local translation is differentially regulated at the level of specific synaptic connections remains largely unknown. Here, we identify a signalling pathway that regulates the local synthesis of proteins required to form excitatory synapses on parvalbumin-expressing interneurons in the mouse cerebral cortex. This process involves the regulation of the mTORC1 inhibitor Tsc2 by the receptor tyrosine kinase ErbB4, which enables the local control of mRNA translation in a cell type-specific and synapse type-specific manner. Ribosome-associated mRNA profiling reveals a molecular programme of synaptic proteins that regulate the formation of excitatory inputs on parvalbumin interneurons downstream of ErbB4 signalling. Our work demonstrates that local protein synthesis is regulated at the level of specific types of connections to control wiring in the nervous system.